


The Adventures of Professor Kim and the Three Strays

by Starinlight



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Child Jongin, Child Kyungsoo, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Slow Burn, Toddler Sehun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21976411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starinlight/pseuds/Starinlight
Summary: It is truly a cliche that everything starts with rain.Or, Professor Junmyeon loses his train back home but ends up finding three children that desperately need help, help that he gives despite not being able to take care of himself properly most of the time. It's not like he'll take care of them for long, right?Minseok is just a personal trainer trying to live his life in peace, even with the loneliness plaguing every empty space of his house. He certainly was not expecting his busy, never present neighbor to suddenly appear with three children and mess up his careful routine.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O & Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Kim Jongin | Kai & Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Kim Junmyeon | Suho & Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Kim Junmyeon | Suho & Oh Sehun, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Comments: 22
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter. Is there someone out there?
> 
> I've never wrote children before, and despite being a glorified babysitter for my cousins, they're all grown up and I lost my touch with how they act. 
> 
> So, I'm trying. This is also a way of writing without much compromise. I just wanted to write fluff.
> 
> Forgive my mistakes, hope you all like, I wish you all Happy Holidays and all you may want next year!

Like every other story, this one starts with rain. Not a downpour, not a drizzle either. It’s the kind of rain directors in dramas produce for a dramatic moment, enough to make the characters wet, but not too much to make it impossible to act. He’s not an actor, he’s not acting, and he’s definitely not being filmed by anyone. He’s simply a regular worker, getting soaked to the bone. Seemingly most of the people walking on the street had apparently read the weather forecast before leaving home, for most have their umbrellas open, successfully sheltering themselves from the rain.

Anyway, it rains, and Junmyeon it’s not one to walk around with an umbrella, so he does his best to shelter himself from it. His coat is past the point of drenched, at this point just contributing to make him wetter.

It’s not really his fault; normally Junmyeon is more than prepared for sudden – or not – weather changes. The thing is, his car broke down just a couple of days ago and he’s been using the subway for the past days, something he hasn’t done since his student days. He’s accustomed with making his own schedule, often staying past work hours. A coworker had to warn him to hurry if he wanted to get the last train, and despite all the running he did, Junmyeon wasn’t quite as lucky as to arrive on time for it.

Talking about luck, he feels like _Someone Above_ – in italic, to give emphasis – is out for him in the past days, and he doesn’t remember doing anything wrong in… Damn, never really. His mother had raised a wonderfully polite child who grew into a charming gentleman. Junmyeon had always done his best to follow the rules and given his all in everything he put his mind in doing. He graduated as first in class and was the favorite TA before becoming a full-fledged professor.

Ok, so maybe he’s being a little dramatic here. It’s not like someone _died,_ at least, not that he knows of.

Geez he should relax, breathe in, breathe out, shouldn’t he?

He sighs as he finally finds a shelter at the front porch of what seems to be a natural products store. It’s late, and the employees are closing down the place, so he doesn’t bother entering it, not wanting to make them work more. Instead he takes a deep breath and picks his phone, calling an Uber, since every taxi that passed by him either had a passenger or decided to ignore his honestly not-great appearance. It’s not like gel can survive this much water.

The app says his driver will take twenty five minutes with the current traffic, and Junmyeon consoles himself with the fact that he's not getting wetter by the suddenly-turning-into-a-downpour rain in front of him, leaning back on the store’s wall. Some people don’t share his patience, passing by him in a hurry, business men using their briefcases in an attempt to cover their heads, some girls squealing and cursing their high-heels. The traffic jam in front of him moves slowly, the dark tinted car windows reflecting a distorted image of his body. If he were the poetic type, he’d go on how the street lights cast a melancholy shade as the world continues to go on without a care for the other and… He’s not poetic.

A couple minutes tick by, the rain continuing to fall down, growing steadily heavier; he’s starting to get cold, his coat soaked through like his shoes and socks. He’s thankful for leaving his most important papers back at his office, now carrying a small briefcase with his tablet, keys and some document copies he still has to look over the moment he gets home.

Suddenly a small shadow passes by him to go into the store, a soft clinking of a bell announcing its presence. He turns to fully see who could be at this time, mentally admonishing this person with no sense of education.

Instead, he’s met with another figure, even smaller than the first one.

It’s a child, he notes with no small amount of astonishment. Better yet, it’s a child carrying _another child,_ both soaked to the bone.

Junmyeon searches for a possible parent, eyeing the store in search for the shadow that just entered.

His heart lurches on his ribcage when all he sees is another child, dripping wet, offering what looks like a bunch of coins to an annoyed-looking employee. There’s no sign of anyone accompanying them; the child inside the store is about seven or eight years old, while the other two by his side don’t appear older than five and two. The youngest squirms in the other’s arms before starting to cry. Junmyeon still can’t see these children’s parents anywhere.

_It’s not your business; you don’t have anything to do with it. Do not meddle, Junmyeon, do not…_

“Hello darling, where are your parents?”

The boy carrying the toddler startles so bad he almost slips on the wet floor, Junmyeon kneeling and holding him straight at the last second. Wide, dark, damp eyes stare at him, fear evident. The kid’s arms wrap even more tightly around the toddler he holds, in an attempt to protect them from Junmyeon. The toddler cries harder, grabbing the boy’s shoulders and pushing their face into his neck. The boy looks at Junmyeon, then at the shop’s window and then at the toddler he carries, before turning back to Junmyeon.

This child trembles even though he stands his ground; Junmyeon can’t help but think what he could have possibly gone through to be so guarded at such a young age. His heart hurts at the thought, so he focuses at the present moment.

“Hey, hey, I’m not going to hurt any of you.”

“Soo says to not talk with strangers.”

The child’s voice is soft, a bit hoarse with lack of use.

Junmyeon does his best to smile reassuringly, sticking out one hand. “I’m Kim Junmyeon.”

The child shyly looks at him, “Jongin,” he whispers, not taking Junmyeon’s hand, “This is Sehunnie.”

“See? We’re not strangers anymore,” Junmyeon says, sneakily checking his phone. Damn it, his Uber is just turning the street’s corner, less than five minutes away. He needs to decide what he’s going to do, and he needs to decide it _now._

It’s not like he can ignore three children who are apparently by themselves, in the rain and at night. He can’t force them to go with him either; what if they do have parents, who are in a desperate search for them in this downpour? And if they’re really alone, shouldn’t he call the police? They would certainly know what to do with the children; it’s not like he _has_ to take them with him Even if he did, what would he do with three children? He has a nephew, yes, and sometimes his students act like toddlers, but otherwise, he has no experience dealing with children. He’s also sure that if he _does_ take them with him, he’ll be committing some sort of crime. Yes, calling the police is the right thing to do.

“Who are you and what do you want?!”

He startles out of his thoughts as the third kid, the oldest one, leaves the store, panting almost manically. He carries a plastic bag with something inside, and is just as wet as the other two.

Jongin scurries to his side, and the other boy pulls him to stand behind him, shielding him and the toddler from view. “We don’t want any of your stuff, old creep!”

The boy’s words on a normal day would annoy the hell out of Junmyeon, not only for his lack of education when speaking with an older person, but for also calling him a creep; that was not a normal day and so Junmyeon decides to let it go.

“He’s Junm-… Junmy- he’s ahjussi-Myeong,” Jongin stutters in saying his name, cutely chopping it to fit in his mouth, “He didn’t offer weird things!”

Dark, large eyes seep into his, a far too mature look taking over a childish face as the oldest of the three children turns back to Junmyeon, trying to size his intentions. It would be comic in any other situation, to see a child attempting to act like an adult, but right now, it is simply sad, for there’s no reason for this to be a mere act of defiance; this kid is truly trying to intimidate Junmyeon to protect his younger siblings.

He sits on his heels in front of the boys, putting himself on their size. “It’s Soo, right? I was just asking Jongin-ah where your parents are.”

“It’s Kyungsoo,” Kyungsoo frowns, looking at him, then at his siblings, then back at him before saying, “Father left us.”

“How about your mom?” Junmyeon asks, fearing for the answer. Behind Kyungsoo, Jongin lips start to tremble, and he sniffles loudly.

“We don’t have one,” Kyungsoo answers.

As if in cue, a car parks in front of them; an older man opens his window slightly, “Are you Kim Junmyeon-ssi?”

“Yes!” Junmyeon says, rising to his feet. He looks at the pitiful children in front of him, and his heart makes the decision for him before his head can start overthinking it. “Do you want to come with me? It’s very late, and it’s no good for you kids to stay in the rain,” he sees how Kyungsoo opens his mouth to clearly deny his offer, so he attempts to appeal to his protective, brotherly side, “it’s dangerous for Jongin-ah and Sehunnie to stay outside. They can get very sick.”

The older boy widens his eyes, as if the idea is only now passing through his head. Behind him, Jongin nods frantically, further unsettling Sehun, who never stopped crying. Junmyeon makes a gesture for the Uber driver to wait a little longer when someone honks at him; the older man seems to understand that he’s at least dealing with difficult children – he must think they’re Junmyeon’s, oh my god, he’s not old enough to be a father of three – and smiles at him.

“Please hyung, let’s go,” Jongin bumps Soo with his head, since both his hands are busy holding Sehun. “I’m hungry.”

Junmyeon’s mind goes instantly to his pantry in an attempt to recall if he even has anything edible for these children to eat. He can make instant noodles on a good day, he’s an absolute disaster on his worst, and he’s pretty certain children can’t take any of the protein shakes he has at home. The strawberry milk might be spoiled, but maybe he still has soy milk and apple juice somewhere.

This really should be read as a warning as to why he totally does not know what he’s doing, yet he continues to look at the three children in what he hopes is comfortingly. Every second that ticks by feels like one eternity after the other.

“You promise you’ll take care of us?”

He doesn’t know if it’s the rain, his head or if it’s real the way Kyungsoo’s eyes shine with unshed tears. For the first time in the minutes he’s known him he acts his age, his insecurity and innocence peeking through the hard façade of maturity. Once again Junmyeon’s heart is ready to collapse with the sudden flood of emotions; someone bad could take these kids, do horrible things to them, and a fierce protectiveness rises in him. He _wants_ to give his best to protect them, as temporarily as it’ll be.

“Pinky promise,” Junmyeon offers his pinky to Kyungsoo, who eyes the finger offered to him with slight mistrust before tangling his own pinky with Junmyeon’s.

Smiling wide, Junmyeon ushers the children to enter the Uber, apologizing profusely to the driver for making him wait and for wetting the car. The older man shrugs his apologies, saying it was fine, that the rain wasn’t supposed to last so long.

Junmyeon helps Kyungsoo in putting the seatbelt on himself and Jongin, taking the toddler Sehun from the middle child’s arms; at this point, Sehun cries softly, whole face red and puffy from effort. He’s wrapped on an old blanket that at this point is more harmful than good given how wet it is, so Junmyeon takes it off him, asking the old man to turn up the heat to its maximum.

Kyungsoo takes two juice boxes from the plastic bag he carries, giving one to Jongin and another to Sehun; both boys immediately drink them dry. He has nothing for himself.

Forty minutes later they arrive at the front of his apartment complex. He pays the kind Uber driver almost double for the entering the car soaked to the bones and makes sure to give him a five star evaluation on the app. He guides the children towards the entrance, thanking Li the doorman when he opens the door for them and holds the elevator open for them to enter.

He’s not rich, per say, but he can’t deny that he has lived a comfortable life from start; both his parents are much respected professors themselves, and he’s not one to spend carelessly or splurge. Truth is he has no reason to spend beyond his basic needs. With a life without a significant other – man or woman, he never cared for gender – no children and no pets – he had a puppy, but spent so long gone from the house the poor baby became so lonely that in the end he gave it to his older brother, whose first baby had just been born – he was by himself, reading or working out. Every other hour of his day was dedicated to his class and students.

The elevator stops by the 12th floor and Junmyeon guides the boys down the hallway to apartment 1204.

Home.

He doesn’t need to tell the boys to take off their shoes, for they do it immediately.

They stand in front of him, in the middle of his living room, and Junmyeon has no idea of what he should do. Should he feed them first? Should he prepare a bath?

“… Ahjussi..?” Kyungsoo call in a shy voice, completely different from before. He even has two bright pink spots of color in his cheeks, in embarrassment. “We’re wetting the floor…”

Like a dumbass, Junmyeon looks down and the boy sure is right: the place where the four of them stand is only getting wetter, a growing puddle on his living room. “Oh my god, you’re right! Come with me, I’ll prepare a bath for you boys to warm yourselves.”

His bathroom, thank the gods, is one of the largest rooms in his apartment, complete with a large tub and separate shower.

With practiced ease, Junmyeon starts to run the bath, adjusting the temperature so it isn’t too hot for them; he even puts his favorite vanilla-scented soap. Soon the sweet, soothing smell fills the room, and Junmyeon smiles, turning on his heels to pick towels for all the boys. Then, he stops.

“Do you boys need help?”

Kyungsoo puffs his chubby cheeks, “I can bathe by myself.”

“Me too, me too!” Jongin exclaims, already without his pants and soaked shirts tangled on his head.

“Too!” it’s the first word Sehun speaks. He’s copying Jongin, doing his best to take off the clothes that stick to his little body.

“No Sehunnie, you don’t!” Kyungsoo goes to him, helping him take his shirt off and undoing the zipper for his pants. The youngest huffs and crosses his chubby arms, even though he trembles with cold. Junmyeon stands still, observing as Kyungsoo moves automatically, like someone who does this every day. He’s so painfully young and yet so mature, Junmyeon cannot even begin to think what he – they – must have been through to act this way. He feels lost within their dynamic, an outsider in a deep fraternal bond; memories of his own childhood with his brother cross his mind, their days playing and fighting and making up, but they never shared this deep, deep bond. They love each other, that is certain, not like this.

He hides his discomfort as best as he can, “Kyungsoo-ah seems to have everything under control, right? I’ll leave the towels here and I’ll start to make dinner.”

Kyungsoo stops to bow deeply at him, pushing Jongin’s head just as low as his, ignoring his protests. “Thank you, ahjussi.”

Junmyeon shoots one last smile at them, walking out of the bathroom and leaving the door open, so he can monitor the kids. He careens to his room to change clothes and then the kitchen, throwing every cabinet door open in search for food. He thanks Buddha when he finds a few boxes of instant ramen and mac n’ cheese from his cheat days. He leans against the countertop, sighing.

“What the fuck am I doing?”


	2. Chapter 2

Kyungsoo wakes up Junmyeon before the sun is up.

Through half-lidded, tired eyes, not even the dark room can hide the desperation written across the kid’s face, eyes clear with tears. The haze of sleep is quickly wiped out of Junmyeon as he remembers his predicament; he barely manages to sit on his bed before Kyungsoo is all but on top of him, tiny fists bunching up his clothes as the boy sobs.

“Sehunnie feels bad! He’s hot and… and…” Kyungsoo hesitates for a second, “he puked on your covers..! I’m sorry, I’m gonna c-clean it but please help him!”

A lot more awake, Junmyeon softly holds the boy’s shoulders, “Everything is fine Kyungsoo-ah, it’s no problem,” he consoles – tries – him, the boy crying and crying, “let’s go to Sehun-ah, okay? Calm down.”

Kyungsoo sniffles and climbs off Junmyeon, scampering down the hallway before him, without a doubt going to Junmyeon’s guestroom; he didn’t have the need for one, since his parents lived close enough for them to visit him and vice-versa, but it was a good thing to have when his friends drank too much and weren’t capable to go home by themselves. In general he kept it closed and bare – some of his friends had said he couldn’t use a room without wrecking it with his dirtiness, the absurd – and after this recent spur in the moment decision, he’s thankful for investing on a bigger apartment than a bachelor like him normally does.

The guestroom is just across the hallway from his room, and he enters the place with dread weighting his conscience. The scene that greets him is a sight out of a nightmare: Kyungsoo looks frantic, lost on what to do as Jongin cries, the shirt Junmyeon gave him – his brother sometimes visits, together with his wife and two-year old toddler – soiled with vomit and Sehun trembles and coughs, everything around him dirty, from his face to his clothes and sheets. The stench permeates the room, and Junmyeon suddenly feels like crying too. He’s way over his head here.

“Think Junmyeon, think,” he says to himself, trying to remember his limited experiences with his nephew; what had his sister-in-law taught him?

_“Toddlers can have sensitive bellies,”_ she had said, cradling her own toddler closer to her breast, “ _depending on the day, a food that they would normally eat is enough to make them sick.”_

Maybe Sehun hadn’t been used to the mac&cheese he had eaten that night. Maybe he had eaten too much and too fast – Junmyeon didn’t know when was the last time they had eaten, but judging their ravenous appetite, not in some time – maybe he was allergic to some ingredient and now he was going to die in front of Junmyeon and his brothers thus generating more trauma for the two boys and enough to send him into therapy for the next thirty or so ye–

Calm down Junmyeon. Think.

“Kyungsoo-yah,” he finally says, two pairs of wet eyes snapping to meet his as Jongin also looks up; his heart clenches at their wideness, the panic and fear that darken orbs of a mere child. “Do you think you can go to the bathroom and turn on the water for me? I’ll go in a minute with Sehun-ah and Jongin-ah.”

The older boy nods, wiping the tears with the back of his hands before running down the hallway. Breathing deeply – regretting it after being hit by the stench again – Junmyeon approaches Sehun first, crouching to stand on a similar height to the toddler.

“Sehun-ah,” he calls softly, “Sehun-ah, does your belly hurts?”

The toddler continues to cry nonstop, not answering to his question. So Junmyeon turns to Jongin, who’s looking at him while fat tears also fall from his eyes. “Jongin-ah, did Sehunnie said anything to you before puking? Maybe that his belly hurt?”

Jongin doesn’t say anything, but nods. He’s just as dirty as Sehun, borrowed clothes too small for him wet with vomit. The boy is doing an impressive job at crying without making noise and like it’s doing lately, Junmyeon’s heart decides to lurch painfully in his ribcage. At this point, Junmyeon will die of a premature heart attack at age 31, all because he can’t deal with his own emotions.

“I turned on the water ahjussi!” Kyungsoo runs back to the room. Junmyeon admires the amount of energy the boy can produce in midst so much chaos. At the same time, Junmyeon wants to kiss his badly cut hair and cuddle up to him, for now he can organize his thoughts into a resemblance of… something. To say he’s lost like never in his life would be a euphemism: he doubts he’ll ever be as lost as he is right now.

“Great, Kyungsoo-yah! Can you please help Jongin-ah out of these clothes while I take Sehun-ah to the bathroom?”

“Uhum!” the oldest boy is already at Jongin’s side, taking him by his hand and leading him away.

Reuniting all of his strength, Junmyeon picks up Sehun – dirty and sobbing – to take him to the bathroom; the toddler sniffles and tucks his head in the junction between Junmyeon’s shoulder and neck, tiny hands holding onto him tightly. The smell is even worse this close, and Junmyeon holds the desire to gag and the stray thought of how in all heavens will he clean up everything. Priorities, priorities, he needs to care for these children first.

The bathroom is pleasantly warm thanks to the running water. Kyungsoo is only wearing his underwear, spraying a naked Jongin with the shower head to take off the worst of the vomit; his brow is furrowed in concentration and he says words of comfort to the younger child. All Junmyeon wants to do is crack open his chest and put these three children inside it, cage them in warmth and safety.

He puts Sehun down and takes off his clothes, taking care to not soil the toddler’s hair and face with the shirt. Sehun’s face is red and tears still fall from his eyes, but touching his forehead and neck doesn’t indicate fever – thank God.

“Kyungsoo-yah, can you help Sehunnie while I change the covers and find new clothes for him and Jonginnie?” Junmyeon doesn’t want to abuse the oldest sibling’s maturity, not when he’s probably not older than eight, yet he’s so out of his depth here he’s not going to try to do everything by himself and somehow – certainly – mess it all up. Kyungsoo even seems comfortable in taking care of his younger brothers; he nods and calls for Sehun, who goes to him in wobbly steps.

Junmyeon uses the opportunity to leave the bathroom – letting the door ajar, he is _not_ leaving three children all alone – to search for other clothes and his cellphone.

Google pretty much says Sehun has his days counted, and Junmyeon can’t close the tabs fast enough before he is in the brink of hyperventilating. He soothes himself by peeking at the bathroom, seeing Sehun inside the bathtub being softly cleaned by Kyungsoo, Jongin playing with – he breathes deeply, in and out – his very expensive shampoo by making bubbles that cause Sehun to squeak happily, eyes wide open in wonder.

Next he goes to the guest room, using his moment alone to contort his face in all possible angles at the soiled bed sheets; ugh, why did it have to be vomit, and so much of it? A poop accident was better than this… no, scratch that, it was just as bad. Junmyeon should have expected this – he did kind of acquire 3 children, one of them no more than a toddler – but seeing it is a bit… annoying. He`s no parent, he hasn`t had to deal with any of his nephew`s fluids either. A new wave of respect surges for his sister-in-law for having to deal with everything mostly by herself as his brother works.

What has to be done has to be done, so Junmyeon gathers the soiled covers and sheet in his arms and takes them to the laundry area. His nose scrunches up at the mess; he should call Ms. Hyun to help him clean one of these days or just take some time to do it himself, instead of throwing it all on an out of sight place. He changes his shirt and then looks for some more clothes from his nephew, instantly regretting that he did with the boys` clothes what he does with his own: threw it together with his dirty laundry and forgot about it.

Now, now, he doesn’t have for this. He dumps everything on the floor, checks the bathroom quickly, seeing that Kyungsoo appears to be finishing toweling his brothers, and runs to the bedroom to fetch the clothes. He finds only a crocodile onesie and a pair of pajamas that’ll be too short for Jongin and have no way to fit Kyungsoo; in fact, Kyungsoo will have to put on a shirt of his until he finally does the laundry.

He goes back to the bathroom feeling somewhat embarrassed by his bad habits; Kyungsoo is eight and more of a responsible adult than he is, cleaning up his mess and his brothers’ with practiced ease.

“We are done, Mye- Ahjussi” Kyungsoo stumbles a little, seemingly uncertain of what to call him, deciding on keeping things more formal. Junmyeon doesn’t want to think that he’s old enough to be called ahjussi.

But he’s so cute, looking so flustered over a simple thing, “Myun or Myeon is fine,” then, turning to Sehun, says, “What about you, little champ? Are you feeling better?”

Big, round eyes stare at him, still red from the crying, but the toddler nods. He’s been silent at all times; his crying is quieter than his nephew’s and he doesn’t babble away like him either. In fact, Sehun hasn’t said _anything_ at all after copying Jongin earlier that night. He understands his surroundings and things a toddler his age would, yet he’s much too silent and obedient. While Jongin is more outgoing than his youngest brother, he’s also exceptionally obedient; again, Kyungsoo is more adult than most people Junmyeon knows, including himself.

How can his heart handle all of this? These three kids have been with him for a third of a day, and he would very probably kill everyone in a room if they so much as looked at their direction wrongly. They are so small and defenseless, no matter how they appear to be more mature than the norm; anyone could do them harm. What if it hadn’t been Junmyeon to pick them up? What if someone with bad intentions caught one or all of them? This world is full of bad people, and they’re _children._

Junmyeon still doesn’t know what he’s going to do, but for now, he should put the boys back in the bed; the sun is starting to appear, and they all had a long night.

“… Myeon-ahjussi..?”

Junmyeon turns to see Kyungsoo looking at him, a tiny frown on his face. “Do you need help cleaning? I can help!”

Be still heart, now it’s not the time to leave your place. “Don’t worry about it, Kyungsoo-ah, Myeon will take care of everything, okay?” he waits for the boy to nod to continue, “Aren’t you sleepy? You can all go back to sleep, I took care of the covers.”

Kyungsoo still looks hesitant, but Jongin yawns as if in cue to show that yes, he’s would like to go back to sleep; however Sehun fixes his big eyes on Junmyeon and doesn’t do or say anything. “What’s the matter Sehunnie?”

He’s expecting the toddler to say something, yet Sehun just shakes his head; Kyungsoo turns sharply towards him, “Sehun, that’s not right. If ahjussi says we go to sleep, we go to sleep!”

Uh, no, that wasn’t exactly what Junmyeon expected… and when did he start to expect something if he’s so out of his depth? Who knows, “that’s not it, Kyungsoo-yah. If Sehunnie isn’t sleepy, we can do something, yes?”

“But ahjussi…”

“Don’t worry,” Junmyeon reaches out to Sehun, picking him up, sighing when he immediately grabs his neck with tiny arms, “me and Sehunnie will watch some cartoons while you and Jonginnie can go back to sleep.”

Jongin’s eyes snap out of their drowsy haze, instantly awake. “Pororo, Pororo! Me wants to see Pororo! Pwease Myeon!”

“Jonginnie!” Kyungsoo chides even though he looks excited at the idea of watching cartoons as well. Hesitantly he turns his sight towards Junmyeon.

“You can accompany us if you want,” Junmyeon smiles.

“I can…?”

“Yes, of course. We can see some cartoons then take a nap, deal?”

Kyungsoo nods. Jongin excitedly jumps around before grabbing Junmyeon’s pajama pants and tugging at it. He smiles brightly, cute cheeks round – Junmyeon wants to pinch it – and colored pink from delight. It’s so adorable Junmyeon smiles just as broadly, adjusting his hold on Sehun to support him with one arm so he can hold Jongin’s hand. The boy’s hand wraps tightly around three of Junmyeon’s fingers.

The four of them move to the living room. Junmyeon turns on the TV and is lost when he realizes he doesn’t know what channel to put on. Normally he’s too busy to sit idly and enjoy a movie or start a series; he watches the news while correcting his students’ essays. In fact, he doesn’t know why he has so many channels. Despite that, he’s glad that he quickly finds one with a penguin that causes Jongin to immediately focus all of his attention to it, not bothering to sit by the couch.

Junmyeon sits with Sehun on his lap, and the toddler also becomes enraptured by the cartoon. Kyungsoo also sits on the couch, the perfect picture of a well-behaved child: back straight, hands on his knees and stretched legs that dangle from the couch. Junmyeon wants to say something to make the boy relax, but he has no idea of what he could say. Every attempt at making him less concerned about doing what he thinks is right hasn’t worked. Kyungsoo seems to have a tight leash on himself that he won’t let go, and he looks at Junmyeon as if he’s waiting for the moment he’ll get tired of the children and put them right back on the streets.

Clearly Junmyeon’s not equipped to deal with all of these children’s issues. He’ll soon have to call the police to try and identify their parents; by the few words Kyungsoo and Jongin have said to him, they are not exactly on the picture, but must have some other relative, right?

Honestly, at this point, Junmyeon is tired. He doesn’t even realize when his eyes close and he starts to doze off.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not dead... yet.
> 
> Now being serious, I did say I would update this very sporadicaly, but then... 2020. That's it, 2020, the worst year of many people's lives. Not exactly mine, I was lucky to have the support of my parents, but still. 
> 
> I really abandoned all kinds of things I was writing for some time and focused on my online classes. 
> 
> Enough of me.
> 
> I really hope everyone who reads this is doing fine. Please stay at home if you can, wear a mask going outside and when the vaccine is available, please take it. 
> 
> As always, I'm sorry for all writing mistakes and the fact that I haven't taken care of a child in many years and therefore can't mimic correctly how they act.
> 
> I'm thankful for everyone who commented and enjoyed the first chapter and hopefully, this one as well.


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